Part 2 of My Interview with Artist Tomás Morón

I've been getting some nice e-mails and comments about my story. Thanks. (And keep 'em coming.)

But now, as promised, here's the second part of my interview with artist Tomás Morón. THIS PORTION CONTAINS SPOILERS. So if you haven't read the story yet, mouse your way over to the right and click on the story icon, read it, and then come back. (You'll be glad you did.)

I’m interested in your thoughts on the story “The Customer Is Always Right.” What do you remember about your first reaction to the script?

First, I thought it was a great story, and with 5 pages, the characters and the situations were great, too. And it has a werewolf!

Can you explain your approach to designing the characters in "Customer"?  What were some of the things that stood out--that drew you in? 

First, I read your desciptions and tried to approach the words and the sense they gave me. In the Ben character, I tried to reflect his fatigue for his situation and how desperate he was. In Donny, I tried to do the same--but with a character with low moral values and who does illegal things--so I tried to give him a threatening look. I hope I got it.

Oh, yes. Definitely. In bringing this story to life, what were some of the influences you drew from?

I don´t know, but I think I remember some of the Creepy issues or Terror stories from the seventies with that B&W and grays that were so strong.

Was there a part of the story that was more challenging than other parts?

Well, on the fourth page, many things happened, and it was hard for me to draw the panel where Ben faints, hits the table, and Donny stands up.

You've been drawing and teaching comics for awhile now: What kinds of classes do you teach? 

I've taught for 15 years, and I've done a bit of everything. I teach classes on comics, inking, manga, and some years ago, history of comics. But now I do comics, inking, and manga.

What are some of the key things you stress to your students?

First of all, they have to think before drawing. And the most important part of comics is having the right layout to tell the story. If the panel or page don't work for the story, it is useless.

Does teaching illustration force you to raise your skills? I would think you'd feel a need to stay ahead of your students.

Yes, and if I discover some new technique or some new tools, I tell them and try to teach them the best I can. And I try to teach them how you have to interview with editors and how to show your portfolio and what you have to put in it.

What kinds of advice do you have for artists just getting started?

First, they must know that the job is great, but it means working many hours and you need to have a strong attitude. It's also important that you try to never fail to meet a deadline.

Who are some of the writers you would like to work with?

Robert Kirkman, Alan Moore, Dan Slott, Geoff Johns, and, of course, TDR Bach.

And finally, would you like to list some of the things you've worked on in the past and what you are working on now?

Well, in the comic field, I've worked for several Spanish and foreign publishers. I worked for Comicon doing the comics from Digimon for Germany. I did the inks for a Conan story for Marvel Italy, and worked in pocket comics for Semic with characters like Zembla. I also did a short story for an anthology published by Narwain Publishing from a Shannon Denton script as well as the comic prequel for the movie Zoom, Academy for Superheroes, published by Viper Comics. And finally this year, I was a part of an anthology named Fairy Tales that Chris Stevens edited and that was born in the Digital Webbing forums. I've also worked in publicity doing cartoons, children's illustrations, storyboards, etc. And now I’m working on children's illustation for Vimartic and doing a graphic novel for Kickstart comics.

Tomás Morón is also the artist on "The Customer Is Always Right," which you've hopefully read by now. (If not, click the link above.) Check out his fine work here: http://eldibujantesinpoderes.blogspot.com/

Interview with Artist Tomás Morón, Part 1

It's my pleasure to present to you the first part of a two-part interview with my Customer partner in crime, Tomás Morón, who provided the spectacular art that goes with my words. You can check out his work here:
http://eldibujantesinpoderes.blogspot.com/


In this first part of our conversation, we discuss his influences, his technique, and his tools of the trade. BTW,if you haven't read our story yet, check it out to the right.

Let’s talk about your early influences: How did you get interested in drawing comics?

Well, I don’t remember exactly but I wanted to draw comics since I was a child. I always had a pencil in my hands and drawing all day. But the first time I remember wanting to do comics was when I first reading the Bruguera and Vertice comics (these were Spanish publishers with characters like Mortadelo, Superlopez; and Vertice did the Marvel Spanish editions) and the Mazinguer anime.

What are some of your favorite comics of all time?

There are so many, but some of I never tire of reading are Conan the Barbarian, from Barry Windsor-Smith and the early John Buscema issues; Mutant World, and all of Richard Corben's stuff; all of Alan Moore's Superman stories and some of the John Byrne issues. And some more current ones, such as Ultimates (the Millar issues), Ultimate Spider-Man, and Preacher. Garth Ennis rules!

Who are some of your biggest artistic influences from art, comics, film, etc.?

I think one of my big influences is John Buscema, but some of the others are Corben, Mike Wieringo, Carlos Pacheco, and, one of my friends, Juan Santacruz.

What comic books are you reading now or have recently read?

I’m waiting for every new issue of Invincible, The Walking Dead, Scalped, and Ultimate Spider-Man.

Now I’d like to know a little about how you draw. How do you begin working on a story? For example, do you highlight the script, take notes, then maybe sketch?

First, I read the script and began doing some little sketches for some of panels. And then I looked for some pictures for references for the guns, cars, of some real places, etc. I do the first layout of the pages, and then I do an scan of it and print in a big size to use like sketch for the final pencils. I use a light box for that, and when all is approved by the writer or publisher, I do the inks with brush and pens.

What kind of tools do you use? Do you work on paper or on a computer tablet?  What kind of pens, paper, etc., do you use?

I use paper for the drawing but the fx or the greys tones I do with the computer and my tablet, a Wacom. My pencil is a 2H, and if I have time, I like to ink with brush, “ Da Vinci “ number 2. If I have less time, I ink with pens of different sizes of Unipin line. The paper is Geler Mate.

How long does it normally take you to do a page?

With the first layout through the inks, maybe 1 or 2 days.

Your grayscale coloring is fantastic: it provides the story with a rich, deep luster.

Well, I like the Corben grayscales, and I try to do the same sense of volume and ambience.

...

Next time we'll talk about the story itself and get into the grisly guts of storytelling.

Here It Is: My First Story

Through the ingenuity of Alexander Graham Bell and his mad scientist step-children and their wonderful invention, the Internet, I'm able to present to you, just in time for Halloween, the bone-chilling suspense tale: The Customer Is Always Right.

A mysterious client. Veiled motives. A grizzled mob hit man. Blood and lots of it. The Customer Is Always Right is a dark tale about a young man who goes to hire a hit man—and it doesn’t work out for anyone. With a touch of wry humor, this tense story builds to an unexpectedly bloody conclusion.

If everything is working correctly, off to the right you should see a nifty little gadget that will allow you to read a version of this thrilling tale.

Many thanks to my collaborator Tomás Morón and to Andy Schmidt and my fellow creators at Comics Experience for all the feedback.

In the coming days, I'll have an interview with Tomás as well as many more items--not to mention more stories. Enjoy! And be sure to tell me what you think!

STAY TUNED . . .

As you can see by the neat widget to the right, I'm getting ready to post my first story, a 5-pager entitled, The Customer Is Always Right, a little thriller Tomás Morón, my storytelling collaborator, and I did. Keep checking back--I hope to have the story up for Halloween.

In other news, my anthology group is racing toward the finish line. I recently saw some of the cover art (front and back). Hopefully the stars will align and this thing will be out before the end of the year. Finally.

Below is an early rough sketch of the back cover by artist Brad Green. (Wait'll you see the real deal!) The pic is a collection of characters from the stories in the anthology--a police lineup.

More Sketches from Project Comic Con

Here's an impressive sketch by Rick Burchett, the artist on Superman Adventures, Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood, She-Hulk, and the upcoming relaunch of Batman: Brave and the Bold. Rich is a real class act and a consummate pro. He's also a St. Louis-based comic book creator. It was fascinating to watch him work from the early pencils up until the final marker stroke was applied.



Below is a little piece featuring everyone's favorite Wookie: Chewbacca. Done in markers by talented illustrator Nathan Ohlendorf, this is a really fun picture. See more of his stuff at his site, where he has a variety of fantasy and sci fi work:
www.sadlittles.com.

Jason Howard Sketch from Project Comic Con

Looking at all the great "sketches" I got at Project Comic Con, I was thinking about how it's kind of funny how con sketches have really become commissions at this point with everyone from the big names to the young unknowns doing insanely thorough work at cons. I remember being happy with some quick pencil roughs back in the day and now these guys spend nearly an hour or more on these babies.

Here's a wonderful pen and ink piece from Jason Howard, artist of The Astounding Wolf-Man and Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark. Jason was a great guy. We talked about his workload and technique as well as Robert Kirkman's little AMC TV gig and the finale of A-W with the big number 25 coming up.

Project Comic Con: Making Connections; Getting Sketches

This weekend, I attended both days of Project Comic Con in St. Louis--the second year of this newer but growing show. The Con was great; I met some great local talent and I was able to talk with established industry pros. All-in-all, it was an incredible professional experience that provided me with lots of fuel to keep making comics (and a great excuse to indulge myself with some custom artwork).

It was a small show (by some standards), but I think Project Comic Con was better than other cons I've been too. In fact, the con was really the perfect size. Big enough that some major talent showed up (Fred Van Lente, Ethan Van Sciver, Adam Kubert, Gail Simone, Jamal Igle, Ryan Ottley, and Jason Howard to name a few--plus local luminaries Matt Kindt, Cullen Bunn, and Brian Hurtt); but small enough that you could actually talk to them. (The guys putting on the show did a nice job. If you want to check out the show's site, click here.)

But the reason I went to the con was to meet others like me: people who are making comics. I met several up-and-commers who are making comics. It was great to hear their stories (both fictional and personal), and to see what they had done. I'm particularly jazzed about the guys at Ink & Drink Comics and their anthology, Spirits of St. Louis (which I bought and you should, too, when it's officially released next month). They seemed like a great bunch of talented guys, and I hope to work with them soon.

Probably the most fantastic part of the weekend was that in talking with artists and writers at different stages of their comics-making journey (noob to pro), I found that as an aspiring creator, I had a lot in common with all of them. I'm not saying I'm as good, mind you, but we were speaking the same language and shared a lot of the same desires and struggles.

Talking with comics creators is different than just talking comics at your local store or even on a message board, and the energy and excitement in the air really charged me up. That's what great about attending a con: the people there are passionate about making comics and the energy is infectious. (But that may be because of all the handshaking, I don't know.) If you are thinking about making comics, get to a regional show. Even if it's not the biggest or the best, you're likely to meet like-minded creators. And hopefully, you can learn something, get charged creatively, and maybe even find some people to collaborate with.

I've been so focused on making comics that I had been denying myself original art commissions over the last few months. At Project Comic Con, I bought several con sketches, which I'll be posting over the next few days. The one up top is Drake Sinclair from the totally awesome Western-horror comic The Sixth Gun (drawn by series artist Brian Hurtt). To the left you'll see the Mandarin, a wicked little drawing by Brian Atkins, a very talented artist.

Update: My group's anthology is almost done. We are just waiting on the cover. Soon, very soon, I will be showcasing final art from my story. The above header is a preview.

Layout of "Customer" Page 2

Here's a look at the layout for page 3 of "The Customer Is Always Right," my first comic story to see print. (Awesome, huh?) I now have all the finished art from Tomás--and the pages look awesome. Right now, I'm working with my letterer to finish this thing up.

I'll be posting some of the final art soon, so keep checking back.

This story will appear in an anthology very soon. (I can't wait to see it in print.) I will post more info on the anthology as soon as I have it.

Happiness Is Making Comics

Wow. . . . Wow.

I'm sitting here looking at the page layouts for my first comic story, "The Customer Is Always Right." There are few things more satisfying than looking at a story you wrote coming to life.

Check out the first page by the very talented Tomás Morón, my extraordinary collaborator. Click on the pic at left to see it much bigger.

A mysterious client. Veiled motives. A grizzled mob hit man. Blood and lots of it. "The Customer Is Always Right" is a dark tale about a young man who goes to hire a hit man—and it doesn’t work out for anyone. With a touch of wry humor, this tense story builds to an unexpectedly bloody conclusion.

We're in serious production right now--and I'll have more to post soon. The full story will be featured in an anthology produced by fellow alums from Andy Schmidt's Comics Experience.

Four S's for Finding a Penciller

In the next couple of days, I will have some stunning artwork to show off from my first comic book story. But today, as I was reading some comments from other aspiring creators, it struck me that as writers the biggest thing standing in our way of making comics is finding somebody to draw them. Yet, in my short comic-book-making journey, I've already learned four easy steps to finding a penciller to collaborate with on a comic book. Let's call them The Four S's: Sift, Sort, Study, and Seek Out.

1. Sift: This should be the easiest step, but it's also time consuming. Go to Pencil Jack or digitalwebbing (you've joined those forums already, right?) and start looking at artists' portfolios. Sift through the many, many postings to find art you like. I say that this is the easy step because if you have script ready for drawing, you probably have a firm idea of the art style you're looking for. Don't like manga? Click and skip. Want something realistic or fantastic but not cartoony? Click and Click. You get the idea. Skip through until you find a style you like. (And remember, different stories might call for different styles. Also, a penciller's portfolio might draw you in, even if it's not the style you thought you were looking for.) Bookmark those portfolios.

2. Sort: Once you've found some potential collaborators, sort their portfolios by good, better, best--ranking them by talent/skill. There's a couple of things you want to look for. Pinups are awesome, but unless you are telling one-panel-per-page stories, you want someone who can do sequential art--i.e., someone with comic book page layouts; someone who is telling a story. Rank all the artists with sequential samples. At the same time, this doesn't mean you write off someone who only has pinups. If you dig their work, contact them and see if they have a sequential art sample.

3. Study: By this time, you should have just a handful of artist candidates. Study their sequential pages, really examine them critically. On second and third review, is their work as good as you initially thought? Also, read the posted "crits" from others.

But here's the main question you need to ask yourself: Do you have a good idea of what the story is without the dialogue, captions, etc.? A good comic book should be able to tell its story without words. Does this sample do that? Can you follow the story? Does your eye naturally flow from panel to the next.

On a secondary level, you should also see whether they showcase both action and "talking head" scenes in their work. You want to see both to see whether they can do dynamic action sequences and imaginatively stage a conversation. Also, look at their backgrounds. What's going on behind and around the main characters? A lot of artists will do nice figure work but then totally skip out on setting or they draw really bad cars or trees or whatever (as a result, they will not draw those in their samples).

4. Seek Out: Okay, so now you've picked the one or two artists you think will do the best with your story. Now you need to seek them out and contact them. This may be hard for some people--but it's the only way you're making comics, so you have to do it. As I've written before, comics are a collaborative effort. It takes a team to bring your story to life.

Write them a short e-mail. Tell them you like their portfolio. And here's the big part: don't just say, "Your Spider-Man pages were cool." Be specific. Tell them specifically what you liked about the pages. Reference their work, compliment them, etc. Let them know you are serious about creating comics by speaking in the language of comic storytelling. Then cut to the chase. Tell them you have a script you think they'd be good for, etc. Offer to give them a sample of your work, etc. It's all easier than it sounds. If they turn you down, and you will have people turn you down, move to the next person.

So there's your Four S's. Money, scheduling, setting expectations--are important, too, and I'll get to them in later posts. And at some point, I'll get around to elaborating on the above points as well--because if you want to make comics, these four items are key.

Waiting part 2: patience and persistence

As predicted, waiting for my first comic story to come to life is very difficult for me. I knew it would be hard, but that doesn't make it any easier. But in my short journey, one thing I've learned is that patience and persistence are needed if one wants to make comics.

Making comics is a collaborative art form. Books are brought to life by a team of artisans: writer, penciller, inker, colorist, and letterer. You might work with someone who can double-up on duties, say an artist who inks their own stuff or a colorist who also letters, but unless you are a multi-talented writer/artist, you're probably working with at least three other people to make your comic book. And these people have lives (meaning: responsibilities) and quirks (meaning: differing personalities and ways of working) of their own. If you want to make comics, you need to figure out how to navigate and coordinate the work of all these people. You're going to have to fit your comic into their schedule. And then of course they need time to do their part on the project. By definition, this means you are going to do a lot of waiting. Get used to it. But if making comics is your goal, you need to persist.

I had some scheduling setbacks recently. I had hoped to be preview some story pages here in June. But just when he was about to start my story, my penciller received a bit of paying work and needed to focus on that. I understood completely--but, man, did it sting. After slaving over my story and working to find just the right collaborator, to be delayed right when we were on the cusp of certain greatness. ... Ugh. It really sucked.

But I wasn't going to be deterred. (Really, if you're going to give up after a delay, you might as well not start.) So if the scheduling of my story was out of my control, I would focus on something I could control. My other stories. I decided to keep working on my next couple of stories.

And, boy, have I. I worked out a nice quick-paced 5-pager and then I turned my eye to an original graphic novel I've been toying with on and off for a few years. While I was doing that, my artist finished his other gig and e-mailed me some character sketches and then some page layouts (which I will preview soon). And suddenly, the story was back on and I need to confirm the schedules of my letterer, etc.

So be patient and keep plugging away. And write, write, write.

...

Has it been a month since I last posted? Now that I have a few things percolating, I plan on posting more regularly. And stay tuned for that preview art.

Everyone needs an editor

Within the last couple of days, I've seen three glaring errors in my comics. Stick with me, this isn't a fanboy rant, I've got some advice for all of us aspiring creators to keep in mind. But first, exhibits A, B, and C.

First, Secret Avengers #1 (which is IMO, the best of the Avengers family [re]launches) has a major mistake on story page 20, panel 4. Check out Rhodey saying Cap's line and vice versa. In an obvious balloon placement error, Rhodes says, "Rhodey should have no trouble with the controls," to which Cap says, "I never met a ship I didn't at least wanna try and fly." Oops.

Then, while finally reading The Mighty (vol. 1 trade), I get hit in the face again. At a key point in the story, Cole's superiors say he's been Captain Shaw's second-in-command for five years. But just a few pages later, at the press conference, Cole himself says he was the second-in-command for three years. Wh-What? Okay, maybe you miss this kind of thing when you are working in a monthly, but you don't fix it for the trade?

Finally, I'm reading some Batman issues I picked up in the quarter bin, and I get to Batman #446, where somebody clearly wasn't paying attention. Batman is skulking around at a sporting event, which is clearly spelled out by the narration and dialogue as a soccer game. However, the art is of a hockey game. And worse, Batman soon begins fighting the goalie (who shoots explosive pucks at everybody, btw) and it's clearly a hockey goalie that he fights across several pages. Was nobody paying attention?

So where am I going with this? Remember, none of these guys, writer or editor, were rookies: Brubaker/Brevoort, Tomasi/Cavalieri, and Wolfman/O'Neil. These are all creators in their prime and still a mistake got past them and into print, which only goes to reinforce the old maxim that Everyone Needs an Editor (or at least someone to read behind them).

If you're working on a story, share it with some people you know and trust to give you real feedback. If you know a Word Nerd (somebody who really knows their grammar), even better. But most people can catch a lot of things you miss in your passion to get the words on the page. A lot of people might not be able to tell you why, but they can instinctively tell you when a sentence isn't correct. (Maybe they catch a misplaced modifier or simply tell you you're spelling the contraction for "you are" wrong (you're not your).

More importantly, your readers/editors might ask questions like, How did the sword get there? After which you realize you hadn't laid the groundwork for a twist in your story. Even though you thought you had. Besides catching oversights, the feedback of friends or other writers can help you craft a better story, too, by suggesting ideas or revisions in dialogue or pacing.

And, remember, mistakes don't just make you look dumb. Mistakes can do something even worse: they take the reader out of the moment. They're a distraction that take away from the enjoyment of your story. The errant bubbles in Secret Avengers took away from what was an otherwise massive triumph. The Mighty errors made me stop and turn back and reread, ruining the flow of the story. And the Batman soccer/hockey flub: it just totally wrecked the issue for me. Can you imagine if that was somebody's first Batman comic--or worse, someone's first comic? Think about it. It probably was. And I bet that person never came back.

Marv Wolfman and the others are legends. Their books can/did/will survive these mistakes. Do you think yours will?

(And yes, I'm quite sure this post has some typos in it).

Comics taking our money

You ever feel like some publishers are just putting out comics to take your money?

Yes, I know, companies are in business to make money. I don't have a problem with that. Obviously. But as I look at the previews from the Big Two for the next couple of months, there seem to be a lot of one-shots or mini mini-series that, to me anyway, seem like a cash grab; like there's no real organic reason for the story beyond the marketing tie-in to a big event. In other words, I don't think they heard an awesome pitch for character X and then decided to do it, boot-strapping it to Heroic Age and Brightest Day. No, from the looks of a lot of these books, I think they said, "We need an additional 15 books for the third quarter's balance sheet, what can we print?"

As someone who wants to make money writing for these guys, maybe I shouldn't complain. These "extra" books are usually where new writers and artists get their break. But then at the same time, I want to make great comics, not throwaways. And when you're chasing the sale over the storytelling, you aren't likely to get either. Can you name one one-shot tie-in comic that you read--ever--that made you think, "That was awesome." I can't think of any in a long, long time.

I sure some of the one-shots and minis over the next few months will be good, but there's another reason I'm not likely to try them. At a buck-fifty, buck-ninety-nine, I might pick up a random one-shot or an extraneous mini--but at four hundred pennies minus one. No, not gonna happen, folks.

On the upside, it does appear that the Big Two are eschewing big events. For now. I hope that means they focus on storytelling: real, organic character arcs. Let's let all these great creators take the characters and run with them without having to stop every other issue to shoehorn in the Event. That's what I'm looking forward to.

See, I love you, Big Two. You can have my money.

Scott McCloud shows that with Web Comics, it's more than just a distribution hub

I've been spending a lot of time looking at Web comics lately, researching options for getting my stories out there. While a lot of people are using the Web as a more affordable/accessible means of distribution, and that's obviously a very legitimate and attractive use, Scott McCloud (http://scottmccloud.com/) has really explored the interactive, multidimensional, and clickable aspects of Web tech.

I'm not new to the "Scott McCloud experience," the comics guru and visionary (also author of Making Comics) is someone I've known about for a while. But I'm now examining, or I guess I should say re-examining his work as a hopeful comics creator myself. If you want to make comics and you haven't check out his stuff before: Go. Study it.

Over at his blog, McCloud continues the conversation he's been having with the medium and its makers for many years. And he's not just a talking head. McCloud has a fine body of work you should check out. He's experimented with a variety of formats--telling many of his stories in a way that could only be done on-screen.

Check out his story The Right Number, link below. It's a story about obsession, done in an awesome zooming panel format in mostly mono-color blue. It's a powerful story, made even more poignant by the tension and urgency of the zooms. In the hands of a lesser storyteller, the zooms could become gimicky, but here, they totally work. The Right Number is a good example of how making your comics on the screen can push the storytelling boundaries. And how the Web can be more than just a distribution hub.

The Right Number by Scott McCloud
http://www.scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/trn-intro/index.html

Brevoort's Twitter-Short Story Advice

Marvel supreme editor Tom Brevoort tweeted two items the other day that I thought we spot on. Writers take note. These are definitely deadly ways to wreck your otherwise good story idea.

Things I'm sick of in comics #1: stories in which all of the heroes and villains meet before they met as heroes and villains. Oh, the irony!

Things I'm sick of in comics #2: stories that open by throwing me into a crazy action sequence only to then flash back to how we got there.

My advice: dive in/Agent has good advice

My advice: if you have a script you think is great, start contacting artists. Dive in. You're never going to make comics until you start working with pencillers, inkers, colorists, letterers, etc. It takes a team to bring a book to life. Just sitting around thinking about making comics will get you nowhere. (I know, I've done that.) Check out Digital Webbing, Pencil Jack, etc. Go through people's portfolios. Find somebody's art that you like and contact them. Ask them if they'd like to work with you. All they can do is say no. Rejection is half the battle. Sure, you're not going to make comics until someone says yes, but you need to get out there and start networking.

Artists' agent David Macho Gómez makes some interesting points about working in the comics business over at Newsarama--including several tips for artists. With a little modification, his five tips can be applied to new writers too.

New story

Well, after culling through a number of ideas, I'm working on a new story. Excited. Aiming for something more in the super hero genre this time out.

Artist Is Onboard

Success! The artist I selected to work with on my first comic story likes my script and is going to collaborate with me. After he wraps a story at the end of the month, he will begin mine. In the coming weeks, I'll post some links to his art while I await the beginnings of "The Customer Is Always Right." Don't let the title fool ya--there will be blood!

Waiting . . .

Waiting is the hardest part. I can tell this is going to be hard for me.

In talks with an artist

I'm now talking to a guy about penciling my story.

Step 1: Develop a script. Done.

I recently completed Andy Schmidt's writing class over at Comics Experience, where I workshopped a five-page script. Some of the others in my class are going to produced an anthology collecting our respective works.

Step 2: Team-up with an artist to tell the story. In process.

Been slogging through portfolios and posts over at Digital Webbing, PencilJack and other places, evaluating art and contacting artists.

I sent out several e-mails and posted an ad. I've had two artists turn me down. But I'm actually kind of psyched. Both guys just took jobs, one with DC and another at Zenescope on the Grimm Fairy Tales line. I guess I have a good eye for talent. (Not like it's hard to recognize good pencils.) Still, rejection is part of the process.

I'm going to make comics.

I've been a writer and editor for some time, but now I'm going to make my own comics.